Changing stroke rehab and research worldwide now.Time is Brain! trillions and trillions of neurons that DIE each day because there are NO effective hyperacute therapies besides tPA(only 12% effective). I have 523 posts on hyperacute therapy, enough for researchers to spend decades proving them out. These are my personal ideas and blog on stroke rehabilitation and stroke research. Do not attempt any of these without checking with your medical provider. Unless you join me in agitating, when you need these therapies they won't be there.

What this blog is for:

My blog is not to help survivors recover, it is to have the 10 million yearly stroke survivors light fires underneath their doctors, stroke hospitals and stroke researchers to get stroke solved. 100% recovery. The stroke medical world is completely failing at that goal, they don't even have it as a goal. Shortly after getting out of the hospital and getting NO information on the process or protocols of stroke rehabilitation and recovery I started searching on the internet and found that no other survivor received useful information. This is an attempt to cover all stroke rehabilitation information that should be readily available to survivors so they can talk with informed knowledge to their medical staff. It lays out what needs to be done to get stroke survivors closer to 100% recovery. It's quite disgusting that this information is not available from every stroke association and doctors group.

Thursday, August 11, 2022

After 6 Brain Surgeries and a Stroke, Resident Aims to Inspire Others

 She was lucky with her PM&R doctor. In my opinion my PMR doctor knew nothing and did nothing for my stroke rehab.  He wrote 3 E.T.(Evaluate and Treat) prescriptions; OT, PT, ST, which proved he knew absolutely nothing about stroke rehab and washed his hands of the failed outcomes. 

Oops, I'm not playing by the polite rules of Dale Carnegie,  'How to Win Friends and Influence People'. 

Telling supposedly smart stroke medical persons they know nothing about stroke is a no-no even if it is true. 

Politeness will never solve anything in stroke. Yes, I'm a bomb thrower and proud of it. Someday a stroke 'leader' will try to ream me out for making them look bad by being truthful, I look forward to that day.

After 6 Brain Surgeries and a Stroke, Resident Aims to Inspire Others

Claudia Martinez, MD, always knew she wanted to become a doctor, she just took a different path

A photo of Claudia Martinez, MD

Claudia Martinez, MD, a third-year resident at TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston, always knew she wanted to become a physician.

Growing up, she envisioned being able to give back to small towns like the ones her parents were from. "I would see the disparity there not having access to medical care," she told MedPage Today.

However, about 10 years ago, during Martinez's senior year of college, her plans took a harrowing detour.

Martinez began having headaches as well as weakness in her arms and legs. An MRI of her brain led to a diagnosis of Chiari malformation, a condition in which brain tissue extends into the spinal canal.

The condition was pretty severe, Martinez explained. A neurosurgeon told her that if she didn't undergo immediate brain surgery, she could become paralyzed from the neck down.

On her first day of her senior year in college, Martinez underwent her first brain surgery.

She would need five more in the next few years to address ongoing health issues and complications. And during the sixth procedure, in 2017, she suffered a stroke.

Though Martinez had been able to complete much of the education she needed to become a physician from her hospital bed, having a stroke and needing rehabilitation care changed her career trajectory.

Martinez had initially planned to go into a surgical field, she said. But the stroke diminished function in her hands.

"That was a little hard to accept," Martinez said.

She suffered other deficits, too, and ended up at TIRR Memorial Hermann for a year of intensive follow-up care.

Martinez now credits the institution for inspiring a new passion.

"When I was here, I got to see what PM&R [physical medicine and rehabilitation] was all about," she said. "Once I was exposed to that, I really liked the attitude they had in seeing what patients could do instead of what they couldn't."

The physicians, therapists, and nurses take "all the broken pieces" after a patient has sustained a stroke, spinal cord injury, or car accident, "really putting them back together," she said.

"The big hospital saved their life, then they come to us and we restore their lives," she said.

Since then, she has gained back 90% of the function she lost.

Though Martinez said she doesn't always share her personal journey with patients, occasions arise that are well suited for that kind of support.

There may be a patient who is not motivated to do therapy, who has lost hope, she said.

"I remember sitting in that hospital bed not knowing what my future would look like," Martinez said.

Patients can feel alone, like there is no one else going through the same thing, and it can take a long time to get better, she said, noting that her stroke was 5 years ago and that she is still recovering function.

"When I have shared my story, I really do feel like that will make a difference," Martinez said.

Additionally, it's not only patients that Martinez is seeking to help.

Her residency program at TIRR Memorial Hermann has been incredibly supportive, she said, providing the necessary accommodations for her to succeed.

Residents with disabilities can be very successful, she said. They can still be a physician, and a good one at that.

She said she's all but settled on pursuing further training and a fellowship to become a specialist in spinal cord injuries.

Looking back on her journey, Martinez said she remembers asking her neurosurgeon whether she could put off her initial brain surgery, and the surgeon responded that, "'You can't take care of anyone else until you take care of yourself.'"

"We shouldn't necessarily change our goals," Martinez said, "sometimes it just takes a little different trajectory."

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